Ace of Clubs/Eclipse/World of ... etc

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah! James Walker - the conductor of the (in)famous Phase 4 Stereo HMS Pinafore?

[cloughie]

The only Eclipse LP I still have is the Borodin SQ2 coupled with DSCH SQ8 (the Borodin Quartet of old). The caption for the cover photo is "Cottage by the roadside in Dorset".
Decca should have had a competition to find the most ingenious link between the music and the cover.

I had this on Ace of Diamonds SDD156

[Once Was 4]

Yes, that the man. He was Australian and had played the solo part in the Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto with Sir Henry Wood in his early days. By all accounts left D'Oyly Carte after a furious row with Bridget D'Oyly Carte over a new production which he though not necessary - especially as spending on the orchestra was always mean (nothing new there then!) He was replaced by Royston Nash who Ms D'Oyly Carte thought looked very dashing in his Royal Marines uniform (actually a much more approachable and affable man).

[verismissimo]

Photo prompted by the bombing of Dresden, ferney?

[cloughie]

Yes - and do you remember the little hole in the back of the sleeve, so you could see the colour of the dust sleeve? Red for Mono, Blue for Stereo.

I think the Mono/Stereo duplication was discontinued after about 540. The lightweight compatible replacement stylus which could be fitted to mono players rendered the separate mono and stereo issues unnecessary.

[hmvman]

41 years ago, at about this time of year, I heard Auber's overture 'Fra Diavolo' on the radio and went in search of a recording. The only one I could find was a collection of Auber overtures on Decca Eclipse - ECS 695. The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Albert Wolff and a picture of Hardcastle Crags on the cover (still trying to think of a connection there..) The record still gets an airing from time to time; the sound's rough but it's an enjoyable listen.

Merry Christmas, all.

[cloughie]

There were some wonderful finds on ACL/ECS - one for me was PCO/Wolff’s Glazunov: Seasons which came out in mono on ACL and subsequently on ECS in real stereo. Eclipse issues often god bad crits for Electronic stereo, but did not get the praise for releasing some early stereo recordings from Decca’s vaults.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Ah! James Walker - the conductor of the (in)famous Phase 4 Stereo HMS Pinafore?

Oh gosh. I have this. It’s truly terrible - the sound quality in particular.